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Weaning

BLW doubts and support please...

6 replies

neshi · 16/03/2013 20:51

So...BLW...really not my thing but my DD is giving me no choice at all!
I freak about the mess, about not being sure if she's having enough food, nutrients, protein, etc etc! On the other hand, she refuses to open her mouth to anything that does not come from her own hands...so BLW it is...

Now my doubts: she's 34 weeks and has about 3 x 180ml a day (540). Other than that, my impression is, that anything other than fruit ends up on the floor :( When did you actually felt they were eating a proper meal?? And when did you stop giving them milk at the end of each meal?

Salt: I read about people giving them hummus, sausages, cheese...she likes all that also but is that not to much salt for such a little one?

Familly meals: How do you manage to eat with them and eat the same food? Again, do you eat with no salt or give them same as you eat? And at what time do you have dinner in order to be able to sit and eat with them?

As I said, BLW is really not my thing and is leaving me quite insecure...I'm just doing it because she leaves me no choice...any support will be really appreciated!

OP posts:
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MajaBiene · 16/03/2013 20:58

34 weeks is about 7.5 months right? At that age most of her nutrition is coming from milk still, so an easy rule is to offer food an hour after milk.

So long as you're not adding salt to anything, I wouldn't worry about the tiny bits of cheese/hummus they eat. I did limit the amount of shop bought bread to a slice a day though as that is quite salty.

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Selenium · 16/03/2013 21:05

I'm definitely no expert but I did blw out of choice with my dd (now 3). I would definitely recommend the Baby Led Weaning book by Gill Rapley if you can get your hands on a copy, as this would answer all your questions and give you lots of ideas.

My dd loved experimenting with food but did not eat a huge amount until she was about 9 or 10 months old and wasn't eating "proper" meals until over the age of one. There's a saying with regard to blw: "food is for fun until you're one" - in other words, milk is still the main source of nutrients until the age of one.

With regard to salt: you can give them salty foods such as cheese in limited amounts. Babies under one aren't supposed to have more than 1g of salt a day so I remember roughly keeping tabs on the number of salty foods I was giving dd and making sure it wasn't too many times a day. We don't add much salt to cooking anyway but added even less when dd was a baby and used other flavourings such as herbs and spices instead. Remember you can add extra salt to your portion afterwards if needed. I used to cook a bit of extra dinner for my dd in the evening and put it in the fridge to warm up the next day.

Yes, a lot of food does end up on the floor but they are learning so much from the process and it all gradually gets better. My dd is now a great eater and loves fruit and veg. Good luck!

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CornishYarg · 17/03/2013 21:47

DS was about 9 months when he started to eat a decent volume and reduce his milk intake. At 7.5 months, he was definitely still nibbling rather than eating lots.

Just be aware of which foods are salty and don't give them too often. So if I gave sausages, the rest of the day's food would be very low in salt. I was a bit paranoid at the start and made my own hummus when he was little but switched to bought as it tasted rubbish bland and he didn't eat much anyway.

Otherwise we just didn't add salt to meals (or if we felt it needed it, dished his portion up first).

Our mealtimes are breakfast at 8, lunch at 12.30 and tea at 6 which works for us all (except DH in the week who has tea later)

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KatAndKit · 21/03/2013 10:36

Firstly I wouldn't worry too much about the protein/carbs/whatever. So long as you offer a varied diet then your baby will get what she needs. One day she might eat little else other than fruit but might make up for that the next day with a carb fest. It's the fact that they get a balanced diet over the course of a week that matters, not each individual day.

I don't stress too much about the salt. You should try to keep it to 1g a day but if you look how much in in hummus and compare that with how much hummus a baby eats (rather than smears on head) it doesn't take up that much of the allowance after all. I do limit cheddar cheese to a couple of times a week and I avoid processed type meats such as bacon and sausages except for once a week or so.
As for the cooking, well some things we can add salt to our own later so we do that. If it is something that the baby is actually only going to eat a diddy little bit of (bolognese sauce for example) then we don't worry about it and we add salt in the cooking but keeping it to a minimum. When we eat fajitas obviously the baby will not like the seasoning as it is too spicy so we cook his meat and peppers plain in a pan at the same time as doing ours in a pan with the sachet. Once or twice a week the baby has a simple tea on his own (omelette, jacket potato) and we eat "naughty" food once he is in bed.

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KatAndKit · 21/03/2013 10:37

We have our dinner by 6.30 latest if we are all to eat together, ideally 6pm if it is also a night when a bath is needed.

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Flatasawitchestit · 22/03/2013 00:36

Just go by the motto 'food is for fun before 1'

Milk is more important until then. The book is fab (blw one) but equally the blw site is great, and has some great ideas and recipes

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